The front page

Half the page is taken up by a story with two pictures of the upcoming Oglebayfest. (A picture of a park tractor takes up a fourth of the page.)

Also on the front page is something from ”staff reports” that is actually a word-for-word PR release from West Virginia University detailing President E. Gordon Gee’s recent "State of the University" address. Why is Gee’s speech deemed newsworthy by the Intelligencer? I don’t know, and my search engine lists only one other state newspaper that printed the piece. As is usual for a Gee speech, there was very little beyond cliches and platitudes. For instance: education “is about pursuing the path you want to travel for a lifetime.”

Obviously, “newsworthiness” is not the criterion for including this article in today's paper; more likely it’s “space.”

The editorial page

The lead editorial was published five weeks ago in Ogden’s Parkersburg paper and wants us to “Be Vigilant On W.Va’s Roads.” It concludes:

Take safety seriously behind the wheel, and teach your kids the same. We’ve already got enough reasons to be vigilant on the roads here in the Mountain State.

That’s taking a stand! Coming soon: another hard-hitting editorial admonishing us to watch out for deer at sunset.

The second editorial is about why parents and students should consider Ohio’s community colleges. Does the Wheeling Intelligencer know about the community college just down the street from them in Wheeling? Of course, they do --this isn’t a serious editorial for local readers, it’s more filler from Ohio.

Finally, the editorial page includes a syndicated column from Intelligencer regular, Cal Thomas, who argues that the recently elected prime minister in Italy, Giorgia Meloni, is not a fascist as some critics claim. To that end, Thomas uses quotes from her that have little to do with his claim that she's not a fascist. For example:

Meloni also has a searing response to critics who claim she wants to return Italy to the Middle Ages: “The Middle Ages was also the time of the cathedrals and the abbeys, the founding of the comuni (small Italian administrative units), the universities, the parliament, the epoch of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Saint Francis, Saint Benedict. People who don’t know where Matera is, let’s not expect them to read history books.”

Note to Cal: I don't understand what this has to do with fascism. Additionally, while some good things did happen during the Middle Ages, I don’t think life was all that great for most humans -- I would think that most would not want to return to that period.

Thomas is not alone; the right wing media (and even some liberals) have embraced Meloni. Here is a different take from MSNBC’s Medhi Hassan:

What's worse? The right in America openly embracing Meloni of Italy? Or so many in our own 'liberal media' pretending she's not a fascist, or downplaying her extremism?

I brought receipts in my #minirant tonight on @MSNBC.

Please do watch and share:pic.twitter.com/LuvqA82hen

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 3, 2022